Bella: The Vampire Slayer
by Voldivoice
Summary: Bella is one of the new slayers called in the finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Enter her world, fresh out of the academy, as she encounters a new form of vampire in her home town of Forks. Weapon proof bronze-haired vampires were not in the handbook!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own neither Twilight or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, If I did I wouldn't be poor!**

**Authors Note: Greetings Mortals! Here's just an idea I had mulling around in my head. What if Bella was a vampire slayer? I know it's been done but often she's a lone slayer, or is part of a government organisation. Here, Bella is one of the girls who was called by Willow in the final episode of Season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I haven't read the Season 8 comics so this won't be canon but I have added in the Scotland academy. As for the issue of the different types of vampire, I'm working under the premise that the Cullen-type of vampire is a descendent of the Uber-vamp of season 7, one that has evolved an immunity to sunlight, and developed skin so robust that staking is impossible. As for the sparkling, let Bella have her own fun with that when she finds out! Bella is a traditional slayer for the most part, but as no slayer in the Buffy-verse lived long enough to reach old age, how can we know for certain she would age over a certain point? So in a Wolverinesque way I'm working the theory that slayer healing prolongs youth and health almost indefinitely, but it doesn't mean they can't die from mortal wounds or magical intervention, as Buffy herself demonstrates. So Bella is perfectly capable of kicking Edward's arse and as a result far less likely to put up with any bull. Meet Bella the Vampire Slayer, while AU I've tried to make the character realistic, no Mary Sue's here, but definitely not as passive as I found the book Bella. I mean, if you were capable of killing vampires, would you be as "dazzled" by one as book Bella is? I rest my case, different Bella, AU universe, but hopefully lots of fun!**

Bella: The Vampire Slayer

Chapter 1: To Every Generation

_Before I was called I never put much thought into how I would die. Now, circling my prey, staring the monster in the eyes, I knew I wouldn't want it to happen any other. A Slayer lives, and dies to fight darkness, my only regret is that those I love will will not let go, that ...he won't understand._

_The mission is what matters. _

...

In every generation there is a Chosen One, she alone will fight the Vampires, the Demons and the forces of Darkness, she is The Slayer. I shouldn't have been a Slayer; I should still be safe and oblivious in Phoenix, with my hare-brained and erratic mother. Instead, because of the actions of a few in Sunnydale California a year ago, I was now part of a global sisterhood, and not the kind who share pants. And, as fate would have it, my first solo assignment as a slayer wasn't a far flung corner of the earth, but the place of my birth, Forks, Washington.

If being given a year's scholarship to an elite girls-school in Scotland didn't set off my mother's weird-dar, then my improved physique and general ability to walk more than 5 ft without ending up on my face wasn't going to set off any bells. While my mother was at one of Phil's try-outs I'd stayed home, citing a cold. In fact, I'd never felt better, I thought maybe I'd finally left my ugly-duckling phase and became a real "swan" if you pardon my pun. I'd noticed drastic changes in those last couple of weeks, my performance in phys-ed had shot through the roof, my senses had heightened, and my body seemed to have filled out in the right places. I'd thought all this was normal until I'd managed to pull the front door clean off of its hinges; that had been hard to explain to my mother, I'd blamed rust and shoddy construction.

So, when a red-haired witch and an eye-patch wearing goofball turned up on my doorstep with life-changing news, I wasn't in complete shock. I wasn't alone, my oddities were virtues, and I had a purpose, but more importantly, I had a way to leave my mother with Phil without her feeling guilty. So we'd made the arrangements, and created the cover story so my mother wouldn't worry, I went to the "special" boarding school in Scotland, or so my mother thought, and to be honest it wasn't all that different to one, we all slept in dorms, took classes, and even went into the neighbouring towns. Except our classes were on demonology, and phys-ed tended to involve far more guts and sharp objects than was strictly health and safety approved.

I'd found that while in my ordinary life I'd never fit in, at the academy, with other girls in the same boat I was part of a family, although slightly dysfunctional. Mr Giles, a warm but bookish Englishman, who due to my own literary ways I found a great affinity for. Buffy, our role-model, who could be slightly ditsy but hard as nails on the battlefield. Willow, (who I really didn't believe had almost destroyed the world), who sought out slayers and taught us all the nature of our power, as it was her who had given it to us. Then Xander; the dorky but loveable carpenter, who taught us all to forge our own weapons, and how to repair or replace anything that got damaged on the job.

Before I was called, I could never have imaged the exhilaration that came from a fight, the almost orgasmic high of the blocking, ducking, sweeping, punching, and eventual stabbing that climaxed the dance. Not to say that my first vampire kill was at all graceful, in fact it had earned its place in the Slayer hall of shame. Tripping on vine in the crypt we were scouting and falling stake first into a vampire had counted as the best simultaneous WIN and FAIL of that month. I was currently number 2 on the all-time FAIL leader board in the slayer common room, but I liked to think it was in a loving way. The first being Buffy, who first time round had managed to miss the heart. Buffy still hadn't completely forgiven Dawn for spilling that little story to us mini-slayers.

Nevertheless, after many falls I'd found my feet, and earned my diploma in demon slaying, and that was when Buffy had taken me to one side and asked me to go on a secret mission. Andrew had sent word from the Italy of rumours of another kind of vampire, a kind that were organised, powerful ... and could walk in the daylight. This Evo-Vamp, as Andrew had dubbed it, seemed far more dangerous than the generic kind, or even the Uber-Vamp, they could blend in, they had assimilated, and as far as the legends went, they could not die from conventional slayer means.

Mr Giles had a contact from his old watcher academy days that might be able to shed some light on these vamps. A friend who had left to raise a family in his ancestral home of La Push in Forks. That was when the choice to use me was clear. William "Billy" Black was serendipitously a good friend of Charlie, my father, and as I had family ties it would be far less suspicious to send me in to gain information on the Quileute "Cold One" legends. Secretly I also thought that although my mother didn't know what I was, Charlie could probably handle it, and having his best friend there to help break it to him would probably soften the blow a little.

Simple, you'd think, spend some time with (and possibly "come-out" to) Charlie, meet up for the arranged information exchanges with Billy, and get my G.E.D. There couldn't be anything in wet and dreary Forks to mess with a simple reconnaissance mission, right?

**Authors Note: I hope you liked it; the next chapter will have Bella's first day or so in Forks, and possibly even a sighting of our bronze brooder. **

**Lady Extremely English Voldemort**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Authors Note: Here's another instalment, and the first meeting with Mr Broody, let's say I go off script!

Getting to the good old US of A involved a lot more pomp and circumstance than leaving it had been. But then again, when I had left Phoenix I'd had a certain red head to teleport us across continents instantaneously. To be specific, it involved 3 changes: Edinburgh to Heathrow, Heathrow to Seattle, Seattle to Port Angeles, never mind the layover time. Charlie insisted on picking me up, and although I had protested, being a strong independent woman and all that jazz, after 11 hours, I was heartened and grateful that he cared enough to make the hour car journey.

Coming home hadn't made me forget my training though, as Buffy quoted, from a good man she once knew, "a slayer always reaches for her weapon". So I had the cross that Dawn had gotten me for my birthday around my neck, a airline approved bottle of Holy Water disguised as moisturiser, and a wooden crochet hook at the bottom of my bag. Not that vampires were likely to fly, unless they had that special UV glass Angel told Buffy Wolfram and Hart used. But I was flying on a budget, so nothing supernatural occurred. It was _really_ boring, especially for someone who was now used to constant physical exertion.

I had found it very hard to sit still, moving too much on a plane tended to get people edgy these days.

Upon leaving the plane and grabbing my bag (filled with Holy Water, crosses, Demonology tests and and some thicker clothing) I made my way to the arrivals gate to be greeted by Charlie in his uniformed glory. At first he didn't recognise me; he definitely had to look twice, and they he broke out in that beaming grin that was reserved just for me, the Daddy grin that stretched out his caterpillar of a moustache.

He insisted on taking my bags after gripping me in what was for him a very long hug, consisting of one arm for a few seconds. Charlie wasn't big on PDA's, which suited me fine, I wasn't either. I felt bad for letting him carry the suitcase, but I couldn't exactly tell him I was capable of carrying about 20 of them at full capacity, filled with bricks. At least not yet and not in public.

The drive from Port Angeles to Forks was fairly sedate, just a few random questions about how I was, an awkward mention of how "healthy" I looked, I suppose for a father discussing your daughters athletic physique isn't easy. But the very fact he had mentioned it meant he was proud, in his own way, of how much I had changed. I hadn't seen him in person for 3 years; I refused to go back to gloomy Forks for the summers since my 13th. Now I realised I had been depriving Charlie of something special, and when the slayer districts were assigned, I was planning to request Washington.

The house was as I remembered it, old but cosy, Charlie had bought me new bedclothes and curtains, and it made the room far less Spartan than the random possessions I had collected from my summers here. After dropping off my bags, and my assuring him that purple was a fine colour choice, he left me to unpack. That's the good thing about Charlie, he doesn't hover. Looking at the room a though occurred to me, if my mother hadn't divorced Charlie, then this was the room I would have grown up in. Something about that made me quite sad.

After a quick dinner of pizza, which I sneakily suspected Charlie ate a lot of as he had it on speed dial, Charlie informed me that I would be starting at Forks High on Monday, and that he's told Coach Clap of my athletic prowess, and maybe I should try out for track or volleyballs. One drawback to being a slayer was that you had to temper your talent when around regular people; if I got too competitive in sports I could seriously injure someone. But track didn't sound so bad, non-contact, competitive, and being the fastest wouldn't draw too much attention, I'd only be running at a third of my capacity anyway. At least it wouldn't be cheerleading, from what Buffy said that could get deadly.

My first meeting with William "Billy" Black came sooner than expected, and was not for business, well it was but not supernatural, as it turns out, Charlie had bought his old truck from him. The day after I arrived, a Sunday, Billy came with his son Jacob driving it (which I didn't think was strictly legal), in order to watch the game with Charlie. I thanked him profusely, giving him a firmer handshake than was strictly normal, he gave me a knowing look, and Jacob pulled me into a one armed hug, I vaguely remembered playing with him in our younger days. He'd certainly filled out since then, standing at around 6 ft 5, well muscled and wearing cut off shorts and a ripped t-shirt. I could sense the primal energy coming off of him, a raw power, and as if by animal instinct, he seemed to sense mine. Billy had obviously filled him in on what I was; I couldn't wait to get the dirt on him.

Dinner was nice, no talk of slaying, just an edited version of my time in "boarding school" and some of Harry Clearwater's famous fish fry. I ate as much as Jacob, which had Charlie raising an eyebrow, Slayer metabolisms went fast, they had to be to absorb energy to heal. After a hunt, I felt like eating 5 main meals at once, usually some form of meat, I suppose that's the demon spirit within in action, or just a real desire for protein.

The Monday morning of September 1st rolled in cloudy with a chance of downpour. I layered my clothing appropriate to the climate, leggings under brown jeans, green shirts and sweater with a sensible jacket and hiking boots. A slayer couldn't afford to wear impractical clothing; a skirt at the wrong time would slow you down, or just force you to ruin a perfectly good dress. Plus While I wasn't girly I was still feminine, donning some earrings and my cross, and brushing my waist length brown hair until it shone. I could be really girly if I wanted, but those occasions had been restricted to experiments in the slayer dorms, where the girls had insisted on dressing me up to take pictures. I'd certainly learned a lot about colour palettes, I'd gone with green and brown, easily camouflaged in this wooded environment.

I'd gotten into my trusty truck after hollering goodbye to Charlie, and made my way to Forks High, a quaint set of older building numbered from 1 to 5. Home of the "Spartans", warriors huh? I could probably take down every guy on the football team...not that I would, unless provoked. Reminding myself of the low profile I was meant to be keeping, I found my way to the office, ignoring the interested and in some cases (usually female) hostile looks I received. Being the Police Chief's daughter gave you a form of notoriety, being a new girl in the final year of high school added to that. Having transferred from abroad, and Europe no less, would make me fodder for gossips.

Mrs Cope was a nice older woman who was all too eager to give me assistance, calling me "Isabella", (Charlie had obviously been calling me it behind my back) and giving me my schedule and a map. I managed to subtly evade a small Asian male who was making a beeline for me, hoorah for slayer powers, and made my way to English. It was all pretty standard stuff, most of it I'd already read or studied with Mr Giles, he liked to keep the girls at least partially up to date with their studies, so I wasn't behind. I sat with a quiet but pretty girl called Angela Webber, who introduced herself shyly. She was the local pastor's daughter, and spotting my cross seemed to pick up the courage to initiate contact.

She graciously invited me to sit with her and her friends in Lunch, who she pointed out as a baby faced blond boy in the front, the Asian boy I had avoided, and a curly haired girl who was talking animatedly with a stuck-up looking blond girl. Having no other offers, and really liking Angela I agreed.

The lunch room was small, when we entered most of the tables were claimed by their usual recipients, people tend to get territorial about spots. I grabbed a slice of pizza, some pasta and a coke, and joined Angela at her table. I navigated the leading questions from students about boarding school, and tried to ignore the more than average notice of Mike, blondie, that was earning me the death glare from Jessica, curly haired gossiper.

Forks High appeared fairly average so far, well it did, until 5 figures entered that screwed my plan up to hell. I felt them before I saw them, my slayer sense tingling, as 5 Evo-Vamps nonchalantly walked in the Cafeteria door, grabbed some food, and went to an empty table in the corner. My hand tensed on the surface of the bench beneath me, crumbling the wood at the edge.

I assessed the threat discreetly, taking note of exits, the amount of student witnesses, and the available weapons. From what Andrew had said, these vamps tended to avoid the spotlight, while blending into the mainstream, but 5 of them in broad daylight, at a highschool? The big one with dimples may initially seem the biggest threat, but on further examination the blond with his arm round the dark haired pixie held himself with a warriors attitude, and even from across the cafeteria my slayer sense was screaming at the sight of those faded scars. The scars were not visible to the regular human eye, but a slayer could see the threat. The bronze Adonis to the left was ignoring everything, but unnaturally still, while the blond supermodel was practically on the big guys lap.

"Who are they?"

Angela explained they were the local Doctors foster children, the Cullen's. Pretty good cover, but one of them was a Doctor? I listened to Jessica snark about their position as couples if they were foster and adopted siblings, and then zero in on the bronze one, who I now knew as Edward Cullen, telling me not to waste my time with him. Someone was definitely bitter; I could see Edward smirk at that comment. Heightened hearing was on the ability list then.

The bell rang for the next class and Angela walked me to Biology, with Mr Banner. I would have to wait until after school to call Buffy for instructions on this new revelation, 5 Evo-vamps in a school full of teenagers was not a good place for a confrontation.

I reached the classroom, and as if fate was taunting me, the only available seat was next to the Adonis. He didn't look thrilled either, but for a completely different reason, the fan at the front of the room blew my scent towards the back, and his eyes turned pitch black. My day was about to get even more out of whack. I made my way to the table and sat down; he drew in a breath and looked practically ravenous. It must be the slayer blood; it was appealing to vampires due to its ability to increase strength, and was apparently also an aphrodisiac. Either way, a hungry Evo-vamp and a wound up slayer as lab partners was not going to be easy. I was going to have to defuse the situation, or at least move the confrontation to another venue.

While Mr Banner held out the slides, I watched Edward place a hand over his nose, to block his airway. So he was at least attempting to temper his blood-lust.

In that moment I made a split second decision, Buffy would probably kick my ass later, but if it saved a classroom of 20 students, I deemed it necessary. I reached out my hand underneath the desk, took Edwards, and crushed it. Although the material of his skin was resistant, I felt some of the bones underneath bend and give way. This was not how I envisioned the first time holding hands with a boy. But then, he wasn't a boy. His bloodlust was tempered by shock, and I refused to look at him, instead speaking in a whisper I knew he could hear.

"You're going to get Mr Banner's attention, tell him you're sick, and walk out of here without a fuss. If you don't, I'm going to have to take you down in front of witnesses, and neither of us want that. _Do it now_."

Kudos to the vamp, he caught on I meant business, and played the dying swan, I suppose after a few centuries you become a good actor.

I knew that after school, he and the others would probably be waiting for me, so I'd better get ready for a fight. They wouldn't risk an open confrontation, and 5 on 1 were not good odds, I'd need backup.

My meeting with Billy Black had been bumped up on the timeslot, he better know what was going on. He'd known they were here, that's why he invited me down, and it wasn't for a few stories. He needed a slayer.

With the right info, I'd be happy to oblige.

Authors Note: Read and Review please, thanks so much to the 1 review I've gotten so far, it takes 5 seconds but it means a lot!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**Authors Note: Thanks so much for the new reviews, here's Bella and Edwards direct confrontation, let's get physical. Not in that way! Naughty readers! **

Chapter 3

If I were a lesser woman, I would have run across that High School parking lot like hell was behind me to get to my truck. But, Slayer School instils a sense of decorum, or maybe Mr Giles rubs off on you, and I made a point of walking leisurely but confidently to my vehicle. I could sense the other 4 vamps across the parking lot; Edward was conspicuous in his absence. They were gathered around a silver Volvo that Angela had told me belonged to Edward, I suppose he fled on foot, leaving the others to make excuses and use the car.

The pixie was looking at me with a frustrated and worried look, half hidden by the scarred blond who was giving me a death glare. Quizzically, the mountain looked half amused, and must had said something inappropriate to Miss World, who smacked him on the arm before glaring at me and ushering them all to the car. If it came down to a fight, my instincts told me that I'd have to take out the blonds first.

I waited until they had left the parking lot before driving as fast as the tank would go to my house. Charlie's cruiser wasn't outside, so I'd have time to make a long distance call, I'd deal with the phone bill later. I ran upstairs to pick up the extension in my room, to do it in privacy in case Charlie came back, when I picked up the scent. My bedroom window was open, letting in the moist chill air of the outdoors, but that didn't hide the overly sweet smell of Edward hitting my nose, so different from the musky and almost chemical smell of traditional vamps. I supposed the embalming process never really left their skin, but evo-vamps were something different.

The creep had been in my room, so no invitation was needed, nothing was disturbed as far as I could see, unless... I ran to bed and pulled out my weapons chest, and opened it, pulling off the decoy top tray to reveal the stakes, holy water and crosses. I inhaled, yup; he'd been in here too, crap. Nothing was missing, but if he didn't know what I was before, he had a pretty good hint. The fact he hadn't confiscated any of it meant Andrew was right in his assumption that none of it would hurt him.

I grabbed the Zippo lighter from my bag and put it in my pocket. If in doubt, set it on fire, or in Buffy's case, blow up your High School, but I think Charlie would frown on arson. I grabbed a small bottle of perfume from my dresser, a present from Phil, and grabbed my utility belt from my trunk. It had lots of different pockets and loops, a place for a stake, holy water, rosary, and anything else I needed for being on the move. It was standard issue in the academy, easily mistaken for a common belt bag, but would withstand all the flipping, kicking and general wear and tear that was inevitable in slaying.

I didn't have time to talk to Billy, if he'd been here then he had declared war, it was too close to Charlie for comfort. The smell was fresh, he'd been here within the last 15 minutes, and it was time to hunt. I left Charlie a note, saying I'd gone to see a friend and would be back by 9, and left some of last night's fish fry to defrost on the side. I walked out the backdoor, and into the forest, it was time to slay.

...

The woods were silent, as if the damp had put a haze over it. All I could hear was my own breathing, as I stealthily moved through the undergrowth, careful to leave a distinguishable trail. I wanted him to find me, as I wound deeper and deeper, cloud bank dimming the sunlight, casting sinister shadows across the ground.

I'd been walking for over an hour, trying to find an ideal staging area, somewhere with good cover if needed, but ideally flat terrain, without many obstacles, I didn't want him sneaking up on me. I heard a slight rustling above, and caught a whiff of him on the air, so he was following from above, hoping to get the drop on me.

I made no indication I was aware of his presence, and continued on for another 20 minutes until I came upon a spot that was ideal. As if I was being given a sign, the clouds opened, and a beam of light caught my eye, revealing a clear piece of woodland covered by wild flowers. It was a meadow, quite beautiful really, and slightly too idyllic for the business that was about to go down, but secluded enough that no one could happen upon us by chance, and I had a clear view of the surrounding woodland.

I stood in the middle of the clearing, eyes closed, and remembered back to extra-sensory training with Buffy, she's once kicked the ass of a psycho invisible girl just using her hearing. I slowed my heart rate, breathing shallowly, while I reached back and tied my hair into a braid, taking a band from my wrist. I wouldn't want my hair obscuring my vision, and it also gave anyone looking the impression that I was relaxed.

One long breath and I smelt him, a gust of wind, and I felt him, one swift swivel and an extended fist, and I hit him, hard. He spun in an arc and landed on his ass, looking slightly cute in his dishevelled clothing and bemused expression. I didn't just think that, I was not getting Buffy-Syndrome!

"I wasn't going to hurt you, I'm sorry if I startled you, I just wanted to talk"

He said this earnestly, slowly rising and brushing himself off, so we were pulling an Angel act were we? We'd see.

"So says the Evo-vamp who looked like he was going to drain me in a class room full of witnesses. Then ends up scouting through my room, so far you've engendered a lot of confidence Cullen!"

Edward had the decency to look ashamed, but then quizzically asked me:

"Evo-vamp?"

I'd said that hadn't I.

"You do not you're not a _real _vampire right? At least not in the biblical sense."

Now he looked really confused, and slightly affronted, and took a step forward, speaking in his own defence. I really had to explain to a vampire the different types? How uninformed was this guy?

"I've been a vampire for over 90 years! Don't tell me I'm not a vampire! I know what I am."

His smug rebuttal raised my hackles.

"You're not a vampire, you're an evo-vampire, real vampire's burn in sunlight, they have fangs, they can't stand holy objects, and they can't enter a private home uninvited...an."

He interrupted me there, seeming irate.

"That's all Hollywood dogma descended from Romanian fairytales."

"Well Edward, I come from a long line of experts, trust me, you're not a vampire. You may drink blood, but you're an evolutionary throw back. I've slayed a lot of vampires in my time, and none of them were remotely like you."

As if nature wanted to prove my point, the clouds broke once again, and caught upon his skin, causing it to glisten, no, it sparkled? Really?

I burst out laughing, he looked semi-embarrassed, and close to enragement.

"You're sparkly? Really? You sparkle in sunlight? I'm sorry to hurt your feelings Edward but you are the least threatening type of vampire I've ever seen."

"You shouldn't have said that" He stated, eyes darkening, so it was on then.

"You want to prove you're a vampire? Try me!"

He charged towards me, I evaded and kicked his back and started the witty banter portion of the fight, you pick up bad habits at Slayer School.

"So, I don't think we've been formally introduced"

I caught his arm and used his momentum to throw him to the side.

"I'm Bella Swan"

I high kicked him in the chin, causing him to stagger back, and finished off with a roundhouse, felling him to the ground, he tried to get up, but I swept his feet from underneath him, pressing him face into the grown while hold his arm in a lock.

"And I'll be your Vampire Slayer this evening"

He remained still, breathing heavily, not that he needed to and repeated my own words back to me.

"Vampire Slayer?"

"Oh come on!" I said, flipping him over and letting him sit up, while I straddled his knees to keep him in place.

"The Slayer? She who fights the forces of darkness with superpowers and an early expiration date?"

Edwards face was still decidedly blank.

"You claim to be a Vampire, yet you've never heard of the Slayer! We're what the monsters have nightmares about!"

Still nothing, really?

"Fine" I sigh "Here's the gist of it, well until recently anyway: To every generation there is a chosen one, she will fight the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness, she is the slayer. Well until recently, when a red headed witch did some major mojo, and now every girl with the potential to be a slayer, is a slayer. You should be bumping into us more frequently. It's our job to stop things like you from tearing the normals into itty bitty pieces."

Now Edward reacted.

"I'd never take an innocent life! My family and I are vegetarians! We only drink the blood of animals"

Well, that was news to me. Now to lay it on thick.

"It had better stay that way Cullen." I say getting up and dusting myself off, "Because I'm your new parole officer, and although my name's Bella Swan, I don't take BS from vampires. You're going to have to prove your worth; otherwise, you and your family are in for a world of trouble. I want a meeting with your leader, here, tomorrow, after school, to discuss the terms of this truce."

Edward rose, in a rather dignified manner for a man who had just been thrown around by a 17 year old.

"I'll arrange a meeting with my family, I'm sorry you got the wrong impression, I acted appallingly today, may we start over?"

He extended his hand, almost pleadingly, and it made me feel slightly guilty for throwing him all around the meadow, slightly.

I took his hand, but he didn't shake it, he raised it to his mouth, and with a concentrated look, he kissed the back.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Miss Swan, I can say I've never had such an, interesting first meeting with a lady before, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow in school."

God Damn it I was blushing, smooth Grandpa, very smooth. I played along.

"Nice meeting you too Mr Cullen, let's try to keep it that way shall we?"

His lip quirked, and the sun reflected off his bronze mop as he incline his head, and disappeared in a flash into the trees.

Okay, that was a lot faster than a normal vampire.

Tomorrow was going to be pretty interesting. I had some calls to make.

**Authors Note: Please Read and Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, if I did, I'd slap some sense into Edward. **

**Authors Note: Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it, please review!**

**Chapter 4 – The Meeting.**

I was frustrated, I had been looking forward to slaying something and Edward had denied me the opportunity. Now I was all riled up and it was hard to think. I needed to stab something, rip something, anything, to get rid of the tension. Faith had suggested other alternatives on her visit to Scotland, but I was not comfortable doing that anywhere near Charlie's house. I needed a vampire, a real one and fast.

Where there were people there were vampires, it surprised me I hadn't seen any here. Maybe the Evo-vamps had marked their territory. On the weekend, or sometime soon, I needed to go to a real city, I needed some action. For now I had some phone calls to make.

When I got indoors I grabbed the phone and dialled, trying not to think how much this would cost me.

Ring, ring, ring ring...click.

"Giles, I've made contact ... no actually it didn't come to that, they seem fairly civilised...well they're convinced they're vampires, don't think they've ever met a real one...they call themselves vegetarians...I know right! Anyway they don't drink human blood, at least not for a while, they sparkle in daylight ... no I'm not "pulling your leg" ... well I know vampires don't do that but they sure don't! Their leader wants to meet with me. He's a doctor you know, the rest pretend to be high school students...I've set it up for tomorrow...I don't need backup, I can take care of myself...yes I'll bring something combustible. I've not had a chance to talk to Professor Black, he's not answering his house phone...I'll have to go it alone and do some research, can you help out on your end?...Thanks so much Mr Giles, I'll call back again, thank you. If I don't ring back tomorrow send my replacement! ...Yeah... that's not joke-worthy...Goodbye!"

Click.

So that was the check-in sorted. Willow would most certainly keep tabs remotely; she could do it across continents now. If things got hairy, she could pull me out.

Charlie arrived home shortly after my phone call and I started dinner, tacos, which Charlie was slightly sceptical of before tasting. He then commented that his waistline would expand as long as I lived here. It felt good to do something for my Dad; I'd been a bit of a brat the last couple of years.

I often forgot that it was Renee who had ended things; Charlie had been the victim in that respect, not that Renee was completely to blame. The times I had refused to see him probably felt like abandonment. I would make up for it. Maybe telling my secret would give us a new bond, we'd have to see. I needed to spend some more time with him before that.

Over dinner we talked about school and Charlie commented that Jacob, Billy's son, had Mono. That would explain my inability to contact him, maybe I'd go down to the reservation to see him in person.

We discussed the possible extracurricular activities at Fork's High, Charlie seemed happy at my interest in sports. I was definitely taking up track, maybe that'd give us something to talk about, and get rid of some of my excess energy. One thing Charlie liked was sports, and before my mother had left he'd coached little league. Maybe I'd let him "coach" me, if only to give us time together. If anything it would give him bragging rights at the station and me something to add to a college application.

Buffy said it was important to make sure your life wasn't completely about slaying. The best cover story was actually having a life. Your life tied you to this world and gave you that little extra reason to come home every night because every slayer had a fatal flaw.

Every slayer had a death-wish.

Maybe that was why I ...I had to admit it, "liked" Edward a little. If the negotiations didn't work out, he could probably give me a glorious death.

Now I sounded Klingon.

I needed to get out more, well, with more _living_ people.

That night I researched the "Cold Ones" Professor Black was supposed to tell me about. If he was off the radar then I needed to go it alone for now. Not many legends online, not anything I didn't already know, but a bookshop in Port Angeles had a few interesting titles. I suppose I knew where I'd be hunting next.

Apparently I was right in my fire theory, tear them apart and burn the pieces was the "cure" in many cultures. The zippo and the liquor bottle would come in handy then. Stakes were out, but I'd need some form of scythe eventually I doubted I could tear them apart with my bare hands. Edward's skin had sparkled, but now that I thought about it, it had been like diamonds. Only diamond can penetrate diamond, so perhaps only an Evo-vamp could penetrate an Evo-vamp's skin. I'd have to get a hold of something, maybe a tooth, to test the theory.

I was secretly wishing I wouldn't have to end Edward. Perhaps only dance with him again, a little banter. Verbally sparring with a guy was the slayer handshake, fighting with him was practically first base; unless you were Buffy and it became first base.

First base with Edward sounded good. I needed to stop being such a chick. Kill something, that'd help. Jane Austen definitely wasn't helping my Cinderella complex. Violence was the answer; a little assertion of my own physical independence would be good.

But first, my homework, I took out my English homework, an analysis of whether Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing was a "feminist" character. Time to set my internal "angry feminist" to work.

...

The next day in school I remained on high alert. I could smell the Cullen's, I was sick of calling them Evo-Vamps, all around. I had yet to see them. The first few classes were uneventful. I met up with Angela for lunch and took a look over at the Cullen table. They were talking amongst themselves and the raven haired pixie looked at me and had an excited and smug expression on her face. Edward looked frustrated and glared at the pixie. Barbie looked sour as ever despite the joviality of the Bear. The Texan was strained as ever, I'd hae to watch him tonight.

Edward looked over my way and if I didn't know better seemed happy to see me.

Too bad I didn't have Biology today.

Tonight would be interesting.

After school I parked the truck at home before taking a small bottle of body spray and taping a lighter level to the spout. If things got violent I had a few tricks.

The walk to the meet point went slowly but steadily, I listened carefully to my surroundings and made sure to leave a deliberate trail.

The Cullen's were already there, including two I had not met before, they must be the "parents". One was a very attractive blond man, probably in his early 20's when he was turned, and the other a auburn haired woman who made me think oddly of a 50's housewife. For all I knew she had been. They appeared calm and even interested to see me. The bond introduced himself first.

"Hello Bella, my name is Dr Carlisle Cullen, this is my wife Esme. I believe you already know our children. I'm afraid there has been an unfortunate misunderstanding between us and I hope we can resolve it peacefully."

He pointedly looked at the Texan, who was wound up like a spring and ready to jump at a moment's notice. I'd like him to try.

"I'm glad you think so, we need to clear things up. I'm Bella, the Vampire Slayer. I'm sure Edward has filled you in on the legend. It's my job to ensure that your kind to not pose a danger to the public, with violence if necessary."

Barbie scoffed at this.

"Want to try me Blondie? Anytime."

She looked ready to pounce and took a step forward before Carlisle stated calmly but authoritatively "Rosalie".

"Rosalie" stopped and sneered at me.

"The deal is simple, I catch one of you stalking a human, feeding on one or so much as taking a lick and I'm coming for all of you."

Carlisle looked horrified, whether at the thought of eating a human or at the destruction of his family I didn't know.

"You must know we would never do such a thing. We have all vowed to follow a different way, to drink the blood of animals and to peacefully co-exist with humans. In fact, we have a similar treaty with the werewolves of La Push, although it was created decades ago and it and their ability to shift have long gone into memory."

Okay, so there were werewolves now? It might explain Professor Black's absence. Also his expertise. But they couldn't be real werewolves, that was involuntary.

"These "werewolves" could shift voluntarily?"

Carlisle looked startled by the question.

"Yes, the ability has not been active for generations but the presence of vampires gave the men of certain bloodlines the ability to shift into wolves."

"Then they weren't werewolves, not really. Just like you aren't real vampires. Real werewolves are controlled by lunar shifts or in one case by extreme emotion, but that guy had gone to Tibet to meditate for a year. I'm sure Edward has told you about your non-vampire status?"

Carlisle nodded, but still looked sceptical.

"You are an evolutionary off shoot, from what is called an Uber-vamp. They were human's infused with the essence of a demon, it robbed them of their human traits and made them almost invincible. Over time these pure vampires bit humans and devolved to create regular vampires. It appears you're a mutated strand that has developed a tolerance to sunlight, perhaps through inter-breeding with demons. From what the research shows your kind are old but not as old as regular vampires. I believe that you have a hierarchy?"

"Yes, the Volturi, they assumed power over vampires and instituted a code of secrecy that cannot be broken on pain of death. I lived with them through part of the 17th century; they are extremely cultured but also ruthless."

I shook my head.

"Regular vampires are not that organised, they tend to fly solo, or if they do organise it's for another apocalypse."

At the vampires enquiring looks I continued.

"Every couple of years we Slayers have to kill something trying to take over or destroy the world, there is a lot of evil around and before the quickening not enough Slayers to stop it. Now we're organised and taking the world by storm. If you hadn't encountered me they would have probably sent a team, but as I'm native to the area I drew less attention. We have a code of secrecy too, to protect the families of the chosen. I'm surprised that having lived so long you have not encountered any other forms of demonic life. But I suppose because you have souls you would be shunned by the majority of the underworld."

Edward looked stricken and spoke up.

"Souls? What do you mean we have souls?"

"Regular vampires lose their souls because of the transference of a demon into their bodies, they become animated by it. From what I can gather you don't have another visage, no fangs or anything? How is your form of vampirism transferred?"

Carlisle spoke.

"Venom, we produce a toxic venom that upon contact with the human bloodstream begins the transformation process; it usually takes around 3 days."

"My point is that while you are being infected with something that animates your bodies, it's more biological than demonic. You thirst for blood because it sustains you, your baser instincts take over and the virus in the venom reanimates your tissue and transforms it. But you essentially retain the person you were, you keep your soul. Your actions may have been driven by instinct but they were essentially your own, just as your decision to work against them is your own. That makes you both more dangerous and more heroic than regular vampires. I've met vampires with souls and without; there is a lot of choice involved".

They let my words sink in and I decided to let them have their Dr Phil revelation.

"Think on that for a while and stay out of trouble."

I left silence in my wake and I walked out of the clearing.

I'd obviously dropped a bombshell.

**Authors Note: Please read and review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or Buffy**

**Author's Note: Thanks so much for being so patient, here's a small instalment to tide you over until I have time to write a longer one! **

Chapter 5: Seize the moment

I don't like uncertainty; I've grown up with it: whether Renee would remember to pick me up from school, to make dinner, to do the laundry, or even to turn up to work. So from an early age I'd taken charge, to appease my own anxiety. Becoming a Slayer had given me a new kind of certainty, I had a goal, a purpose and it was clear who the enemy was. Until the enemy was sitting beside me in Biology, then things got more complicated.

The Cullen's had been strangely quiet since our little chat, Edward had been absent from school for two weeks, citing health problems. Evo-Vampires, or Vampires in general, didn't have regular health problems, no common cold or Vamp-Flu for them. So either he was off sulking or he was cooking something up. From what I'd heard in barracks about Buffy's relationship with Angel, he was all about the scowling and brooding. Maybe Edward just had a century old chip on his shoulder, and I'd just added to it.

Either way, it was quite a relief for me to not have to worry about killing Edward if he slipped up in front of a classroom of witnesses. From what I'd learned of the late Sunnydale, even they would have raised an eyebrow at that.

The other Cullen's had taken to talking amongst themselves quietly, and giving me furtive glances from their table in the cafeteria. I wasn't bothered by it, if they were having a mother's meeting it wasn't my problem, as long as their actions stayed verbal.

Speaking of action, I think I might go stark raving mad from lack of it. Signing up for track has alleviated some of my excess energy, but I needed the release that only decent violence could provide. The adrenaline from sizing up an opponent, the dance of death, the fear of eternity couple with the ecstasy of victory, there was nothing like it. My last fight had been with Edward, and that was more of a wrestling match if anything. I tried not to think of how I'd pinned him to the ground, my legs straddling him...my hands gripping his wrists...

I needed to kill something, soon.

With the track team and spending time with Charlie, I was finding it hard to get an excuse to run off on my own. Despite the feminist movement, Charlie Swan did not like the idea of his teenage daughter going into Port Angeles alone. I suppose being a Police Officer, even in a small town, he knows the worst of what could happen to a normal girl. But I wasn't a normal girl.

There wasn't a Slayer in Port Angeles, despite our growing numbers there still weren't enough of us to cover every city, town or hamlet, so we took districts. I knew there was a Slayer in Seattle, but she had enough problems of her own, so Port Angeles and the smaller surrounding towns belonged to me. I'd been negligent due to my "special assignment" but I'd been checking the internet, and there'd been some classic dumped bodies in Port Angeles, all young girls around my age with the tell-tale multiple twin holes on their bodies. I kicked myself that I hadn't checked into it earlier, it had been happening for months before I came here. It didn't strike me as a lone vampire deal, maybe a small nest.

Nothing a trained Slayer couldn't handle.

So I sharpened my stakes, checked my supple of crosses and even snuck into the Forks Catholic Church, St Michael's, for the Holy Water.

In the second week of Edward Cullen's absence the opportunity to Slay presented itself.

"So Bella, are you going to the Winter Formal?"

Jessica said this just before putting a celery stick in her mouth, pretending to be nonchalant.

I had her sussed; she wanted to know if anyone has asked me, namely Mike Newton. I think he wanted to, but luckily I was fast enough not to be left alone with him for long enough for him to try.

"I'm not really into dances, a good friend of mine had some very bad experiences with them and I'm taking her lead."

Jessica looked shocked:

"So, like, even if someone asked you, you wouldn't go, right?"

"Depends on who asked me."

"But not anyone here right?"

Jessica furtively looked over to where Mike and Tyler were using celery sticks to fence each other.

"No, definitely no one here."

Jessica looked relieved, and suddenly she warmed towards me.

"What about you Angela?" I asked, I liked Angela, and it was clear that she wanted Ben, the little guy, to ask her out, he was clueless.

"Well no one has asked me, and I might have to babysit the twins that night."

That was an excuse, she was giving herself an out if Ben didn't man up. But maybe she should take the initiative.

"It's the 21st century Angela, why wait around for a guy to ask you? That's what women's lib was for, you are a strong independent woman, and you can ask out anyone you like, it's not against the law."

"Really?"

Poor Angela, she could be almost painfully shy at times.

"Really. A wise friend of mine once said "Seize the moment, because tomorrow you might be dead", those are words to live by Angela. Do you want to wake up one day and regret all the things you could have done, but were afraid to?"

Angela looked thoughtful, but nodded.

I'd been like Angela, before my calling. I'd been afraid of my own shadow, too tied down to even try something new, in case it went wrong. Being called was the most liberating thing that had ever happened to me, I realised that my life wasn't infinite; every Slayer has a sell-by-date, so living in the now was the way to go.

"Either way" Jessica interrupted, "We're going to need dresses, we need to go to Port Angeles soon, before all the good ones are gone."

Bingo, this was exactly the sort of thing I was waiting for.

"Port Angeles? I've never been, do you mind if I come along? I need a formal dress anyway, and there were some stores I wanted to check out."

Angela brightened at the idea, I think being alone with Jessica would have been overwhelming in a shopping situation.

"That'd be great, I need your opinion!"

Later that day, Angela asked Ben to the Winter Formal, the poor guy could barely stammer out a yes, but he looked liked Christmas had come early the rest of the day.

Port Angeles is as good a place as any to hunt vampires, there were bound to be some.

The thoughts of Edward would stop once I had a release for my pent up energy. He was a good looking dead guy, who wouldn't fantasize?

I just needed a release.

Once I'd staked a vampire again, everything would be clear.

God, that wasn't Freudian at all, was it?

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. **

**Author's Note: Thanks for all your reviews, here's the trip to Port Angeles! **

Chapter 6: Fishing for Vampires

The ride to Port Angeles was surprisingly pleasant. Jessica put on the radio, a popular teen station, and although the music wasn't my "cup of tea", as Giles would say, I at least found it cheerful. Angela was more talkative than usual, managing to get a word in edge ways as Jessica concentrated on navigating the car. I had decided to sit in the back, giving Angela shot gun as she was taller and needed the leg room. It only took an hour to drive there, and we chatted amiably about class, and Jessica waxed poetic about going to the dance with Mike. Angela more shyly said she'd asked Ben to the dance, and he'd said yes. They made a very good couple, their temperaments were very alike, quiet, sweet and thoughtful. I couldn't help but think that Jess and Mike were similar too, outspoken and assured of their own importance, although they were still good people, if sometimes misguided.

Jessica managed to park relatively close to the shopping district. It was October, the off season, so Port Angeles was only filled with locals willing to brave the chilly winds.

I decided to join into the dance dress spirit when we entered the gown boutique. Rather than sitting out, as I would have before my calling, my time at the academy had given me the confidence in my body I needed to display it. I didn't wear anything revealing, but I wasn't ashamed of my body, nor did I try to hide my shape with baggy clothes as I once had. I tried on a few, a red floor length gown that I found too revealing on top, a purple knew length dress with a sweetheart neckline that I liked the colour of, but then I saw it, blue with a halter neck and filmy layers to the knees. I knew I had some lace ending leggings at home to match, and it set off her my skin nicely. I didn't have a formal dress, and even if I didn't go to the dance it would be nice to have the option.

Angela looked stunning in a cerulean blue dress with beading, she was statuesque. Jessica went through a few before she decided on a pink V-neck halter that showed off her ample cleavage, I was sure Mike would approve. As I examined myself in the shop mirror, I felt a supernatural presence watching us from the window, it was 5pm and darkness had fallen. I turned and examined the window and saw a group of three teenage guys standing on a corner, looking towards the window, and nudging each other. They could have been any normal teenagers, if it weren't for my sixth sense. They'd been watching us try out the dresses, they'd seen Angela and Jessica, they'd targeted us.

I remembered my real purpose in coming to Port Angeles. I'd loaded her bag with two stakes (always handy to have a spare) a cross and holy water. It was winter in the city, hunting season for vampires.

But it was also hunting season for me.

As I got changed and paid for my purchase, as the other girls did, Jessica said:

"Bella, Angela and I are going to go buy some shoes before the store closes, want to come?"

This was a perfect opportunity to part ways.

"Actually, there was a book store I wanted to check out, meet you at the restaurant?"

"Sure!"

Finally! In the changing room I had tucked a stake into my jacket and my waist band, it was dark out now, and the vampires would be working in the less populated areas. Once Angela and Jessica rounded the corner onto the busy highstreet, I headed in the opposite direction to the book store, going towards the docks.

They'd definitely follow me. Looking at the docks I couldn't help thinking I was fishing for vampires.

As the sounds of the city diminished, making way for dockyards and four story housing, narrow alleyways and badly lit streets, I began to feel them. Of course they'd be attracted, a lone girl in a rundown neighbourhood, supposedly lost. I drew in a breath as I walked down a dark alleyway, smelling the sea salt, the rotting of the dumpster at the mouth of the alley, and the musty smell of vampire. I could feel them, closing in in front and behind of me. I felt like laughing, they were trying to herd _me_, there were three I had seen before, but I couldn't discount them having backup.

Suddenly, they were in front of me, and I turned my head, and they were behind, I was right, there was another one, four in total, two in front, two behind. These were classic vampires, none of the confusion of the Cullen's. It looked like they'd been high school boys, from their clothes, maybe the mid-00's. So they were young vampires, and as I hadn't run or made any sign of fear, they were stupid.

"Hey beautiful, you seem awful lonely out here, want to hang out with us, we'll show you around?"

This guy was like a group of clichés rapped together in a t-shirt and baseball cap.

"Does that line usually work for you?"

The leader who had spoken, the baseball capped boy with a slightly dim face seemed puzzled by my response. Why wasn't I scared or running? Screaming for help? Instead, a 5 ft 7 girl was back chatting to a group of guys with obvious ill intent.

"Hey babe, I'm the one asking the questions here!"

"I've never been one for talking and I'm not your babe."

He looked interested by my banter, as the more subordinate ones began to circle.

"So you're a girl of action, I _like _that. How about you have a little _action_ with us? We've been real lonely, just us guys, maybe you'd like to join our little gang?"

It clicked into place, the dead girls, they hadn't just been feeding, they'd been trying to _reproduce!_ But they were incompetent, and their attempts hadn't succeeded.

It seemed they wanted a girlfriend.

"I don't think you could handle me. Plus, I'm already in a gang."

"Really, girl gangs are hot. What are you called?"

I felt one of the smaller vampires move too close behind md, trying to catch a whiff of my hair. I round-housed, felled him, and then staked him in mid air. He exploded into a cloud of dust, scattering to the ground and I felt the euphoria of the kill. Feeling more alert than I had in months, I swiftly turned back to the leader, who stood wide-eyed; the others seemed fixed in place, stunned.

"We're the Slayers."

"Shit Cory she killed Brandon!" shouted the weedy looking vampire to my left, he looked like he should have been playing World of Warcraft somewhere, not tangling with a Slayer on a Saturday night.

I felt like laughing, "Cory? You're the name's _Cory_? Jesus, vampires have low standards nowadays."

The third vampire, a short stout boy with a third tire guffawed.

"She sure got you Cory."

"Shut up Jerry! Get her!"

Action time, "Jerry" charged right into my, I barely had to move to stake him, while weedy vampire tried to be smarter, circling before diving in, only to find himself tripped and staked.

Then there was "Cory", he was bigger than the other two, maybe he'd been a jock in his past life, and now he looked mad.

"You bitch! Those were my friends!"

"And those girls you killed had friends, and families."

He looked slightly shocked that I knew about the girls.

"What's even sadder, is that you were all so impotent you couldn't even change a girl right."

I was goading him, as we circled, waiting for the charge.

"You don't know anything! We meant to kill them, they were little whores!"

I read the lie in his eyes, he was trying to distract me.

"No, I think you all decided you wanted a girl to share, but you were too stupid to even do that right. Well you wanted a girl, you got one, let's see how _man_ you are!"

If there was one thing I hated more than vampires, it was men who treated women like they were inferior or like objects. They'd wanted a girl to pass around like a plaything, well let's see how he handled this girl!

"Cory" had taken his cue and charged for me, raging, I dodged out of the way and he stumbled but regrouped. Then we ran at each other, punches were thrown, ducking, diving, kicking, he danced better than I thought he would. But I was a master.

I jumped and rolled as I heard the screeching tires of a car, there must be some joy riders around here. The sound got closer as I fought, and suddenly headlights came round the corner, "Cory" was distracted and I pushed him several feet into a wall, before the car appeared in front of me and she ran, jumped and slid across the hood and staked Cory. He looked at me in horror before he disappeared into dust, the baseball cap falling to the floor as the driver's door opened on the car, and I turned round to see Edward Cullen.

The euphoria of the fight must have made me crazy, because I grabbed Edward and pushed him up against the wall.

"What are you doing here? Were you following me?"

Edward looked a little ruffled, but made no attempt to get out of my grasp.

"Alice had a vision you would get into trouble, so I followed to make sure you were alright."

I rolled my eyes and pushed him into the wall once more before letting go and stepping back. Classic patriarchal mind set, he was probably turned pre-women's rights, a boy that was raised to think women were helpless. While chivalry was sweet, it also had archaic undertones, particularly the mindset that women needed help.

"Edward, I'm a Vampire Slayer, I actively seek out danger, it's in the job description! As you can see, I was doing just fine!"

"Alice said it was four against one, those aren't fair odds even for a Slayer! And I read their minds, I couldn't stand what they were thinking about you!"

That gave me pause, he was worried about me? He'd been missing for weeks and suddenly here he was to save me poor Bella from the bad vampires. It was sort of...sweet, in its own way. Didn't he remember that I'd been able to throw him around a meadow and pin him to the ground a few weeks ago?

"I've had worse odds than four against one. They were young vampires, stupid; I doubt they even knew what I was. It's my job to deal with scum like them; they'd been attempting to turn teenage girls, but just left a trail of bodies. If I hadn't stopped them tonight, if I'd let Angela and Jessica come on their own they'd have been dead by morning. They spotted them when we were trying on dresses, targeted us, I won't stand for that."

Speaking of my dress, I looked over to where the fight began and saw my bag, dust covered but otherwise untouched. I began to make my way to it but Edward had seen my intention and was suddenly in front of me, holding the bag out to me sheepishly.

"It doesn't look damaged."

Bella took the bag from him and looked inside, as he'd said, the dress was fine.

"Thanks"

I remembered my manners; it seemed I was always losing my rag with Edward.

He made me feel things strongly. Just as I'd begun to work out some of my frustration, he turns up again!

"Are you planning to go to the dance?"

Suddenly, I felt awkward.

"I don't know, no one's asked me."

Edward looked surprised by this, and then something odd happened, he looked like he wasn't looking at me, but at something else, like he was listening to another conversation. His brow furrowed as if he irritated, and then cleared and his lip quirked in a slow smile, it was quite attractive.

I obviously hadn't killed enough tonight.

"Would you like to go?"

I was startled by the question. Now that I thought about it, I would like to. I never went to any dances in Phoenix, and we didn't have any at the academy after I was called.

"I guess, yeah, I would. It's one of those right-of-passage things."

"Would you do _me_ the honour of accompanying me to the Winter Formal?"

In that second I wasn't a Slayer, and he wasn't a Vampire. He was a good looking boy asking me to a dance, I barely knew him, but my adrenaline was still running, and for a Slayer this meant a certain level of arousal. My hormones overwrote my common sense and I found myself blurting out:

"Okay."

Too late to take it back now, and I sort of didn't want to. God I was turning into Buffy.

He broke out into a grin, and he was almost dazzling,

"Fantastic. If you are done..._hunting_, I believe that Angela and Jessica are waiting for you at La Bella Italia."

Oh, right, girl's day out.

"I would be happy to drive you; perhaps we can talk about meeting up for a date before the dance, getting to know each other better?"

I found myself nodding, and he took the bag from me and made to open my door but I got there first, I needed to take some momentum back! It seemed so odd, a moment ago I'd been killing vampires and sneering at chivalry, and now I was letting Edward Cullen, Gentleman Vampire, take me to a dance.

Somewhere in that conversation he'd gotten the upper-hand, damn my stupid post-fight hormones!

Wait, did he say "date"?

**Author's Note: Hope you like it! Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or Buffy the Vampire Slayer**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, I'm very busy volunteering 5 days a week and the weekends are fairly manic too! Here's a short chapter to tide you over!**

Chapter 7

Angela and Jess had fallen over themselves to leave us alone when we got to La Bella Italia, I hadn't overlooked the irony of the name. I'd still been pissed about Edward interfering in my hunt and how he'd jedi-mind tricked me into going to the winter formal with him, and another date! So I'd been determined to make dinner as unpleasant as possible. It hadn't worked out that way. When I think back to what my life was like before I was called, it's sometimes like watching a really boring reality show about someone else. I had been meek, small and somewhat pathetic, I'd have never dreamed of sitting in a restaurant with a sparkling vampire, exchanging witticisms and trying not to notice how well his clothes fit him, the curl of his lip, the long copper eyelashes, wild hair... But that's what I'd done. We'd talked about his family, his abilities, particularly his telepathy, which I was happy to say I was immune to, must be some kind of Slayer thing.

It was odd, that "first date", it didn't go how I expected. It turned out we had a lot in common, music, art, literature, although we had argued about his soccer-mom car.

"It goes to 200 mph and has impressive safety reviews"

"You're practically invincible and it does nothing for your street cred."

"I don't need street-cred, we try to keep a low profile."

"Well you're failing, miserably."

His lips had quirked at that, as if I'd given him a compliment.

Edward had driven me home, I'd made a point of opening my own door, and closing it a little too hard. I think if I'd pulled a little harder I'd have smashed the window from the impact. He'd countered later by grabbing my shopping bags and walking me to my door, which Charlie answered. Nice comeback.

"Bells, you're late" he looked at Edward "girl's day out huh?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I got lost and Edward happened to find me. Angela and Jessica had to go home early and I wanted dinner so Edward offered to drive me home afterward."

Edward chose then to intervene.

"Chief Swan, my name's Edward Cullen" he said, holding out his hand, "I wanted to formally introduce myself as Bella has kindly acquiesced to go to the Winter Formal with me."

Jeeze, was he going to tell everyone?

"Cullen, huh? You one of Dr Cullen's kids?" my Dad said, shaking Edwards offered hand, which was covered in driving gloves, nice move.

"Yes Sir"

"You're a little old aren't you."

I was getting sick of being ignored like I wasn't there, but they were sizing each other up and having their male pissing contest. It's like a right of passage of something, I'd brought my first boy..._friend_ home, and Charlie was following tradition. If you can get past the Dad stare-down and grill you're worthy to date his daughter. It's very patriarchal.

Edward's lips had quirked at Charlie's question.

"I'm 17 sir, I'm in Bella's biology class."

"I wanted to meet you in person because I'd like to know if it's alright for Bella to come play baseball with my family next weekend? If you don't have anything planned?"

He was asking Charlie permission to take me out, that was very 1950's. I wasn't particularly happy about that.

"Baseball huh?"

Charlie approved of any sport, period. Well, maybe not badminton. Before becoming a Slayer I'd been too uncoordinated to walk across a room, now I could do Olympic worthy gymnastics. After my calling, we'd had much more to talk about. He'd been encouraging me to join the track team, which I was seriously considering. It was better if I didn't join a sport with contact, like Jess's volley ball team, I'd probably end up hitting the ball too hard and breaking someone's bones. Edward could probably read Charlie's mind, and was choosing the right answers, that was cheating.

"Yes sir, my family would like to spend some time with Bella, I know my sister Alice is especially fond of her."

Ahh, he was pulling the "it's perfectly innocent, my family will be there" card. Damn.

And God damn it, it worked.

"Well that sounds fine there, Edward. I'll be fishing and Bella's more of an action person. Get your father to call me and we'll arrange things."

God, now he was going to liaise with Dr Fang? I wasn't invisible! I just knew that the minute he got to the station he's be running background checks on Edward, hopefully their cover story was full proof.

But Charlie was a cop, he was trained to snoop, and pretty soon I'd have to fess up about my Slayer-Status, or risk him finding out in the wrong context. Like me knee deep in demon blood or staking a vampire in front of him.

That would be bad.

"I'll do that Chief Swan, I'm sure Carlisle would love to talk to you about it."

"I think you'd best head home, it's getting dark and it's not safe to be out at night with those bear sightings."

"Of course Sir, goodnight Chief Swan, Bella. I'll see you at school."

Edward nodded at us both and handed me my shopping bag before getting in his soccer-mom car and driving away.

Oh, we'd definitely see each other at school. I'd need to find a way to pay him back for the parent-centred embarrassment.

"Bells, I didn't know you had a boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Kid, you might not think so, but that boy does. He just introduced himself to you parent and asked permission to take you out."

I looked at Charlie, struck dumb, as he ushered me into the house.

Edward turned up to drive me to school with Alice on Monday morning. On Monday, before school, Charlie gave me a can of mace, "just in case".

I don't think mace will help much against a vampire that apparently wants to be my boyfriend.

Slayers have the weirdest problems.

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading, please review!**


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